First aid and CPR training courses

I had first aid and cpr training about fours years ago, thanks god I paid attention in class. I was at the grocery today when a woman started screaming for help and had a lifeless baby in her arms. He had a fever and had a seizure. I stepped in and my older son translated for us. The six month old baby had two seizures before the ambulance arrived but he is alive and spending the night in the hospital. I had never used my training before but it all came back to me like I had done it a million times.
Do they offer this training in Germany? I would like to get the parents this course but am unsure who to contact to sign them up.

Rotes Kreuz, I think. I had to take first aid training to get my German driver's license. Try here, under "Wo Sie uns finden".

Hey, well done hockeywidow. Feels good, don't it?

I suggest you ask your doctor. I only know the people at the DMSB, and unfortunately I think their nearest permanent office is at Hockenheim.

nice one. You have saved a life so if you dont do anything else all year you will have achieved more than most of us!

Some suggestions came up in this thread before
Well done btw.
It sounds like it was probably a Febrile convulsion which while scary are not usually dangerous. So I doubt the baby was lifeless. It happened to my son as well when he was younger. In fact CPR isn't the right thing to do in this case.

Yeah, CPR is not the best for a seizure, BUT, checking the airways the first step is.
Well done HW- in most cases of panic people freeze and cannot think rationally.

I get a course every year at the office. But its not like the Red Cross Certified.

Great work!

I didn't preform cpr, that was just part of my training. I just took the baby put him on his side , head down and put my finger in his mouth and helped his tongue come back down. Then started cooling him down with cool cloths and then repeated when he had his second seizure.

how much is the course?

I think having the knowledge to help allows you to keep a cool head when these things happen and that is one of the most important things.

Awesome! I am a certified First Responder for the County of Munich and the wife got an award from the city of Munich for a similar incident involving an old lady at a bus stop. Cavelier der Strasse is what it was called and came with a plaque to hang up. She won't hang it up, but I have the article in the paper about her hanging on my wall at work. It really does come back to you in the moment of crisis. Good on you for keeping a cool head and going into auto drive. That means you paid attention and were just waiting for the moment it was needed. Not everyone can do this and it is nice to hear when it does happen. Everyone should be trained in the art of saving a life, but not everyone can handle it. Congrats on being one of those that could and by all means be proud that you could help. That is what it is all about.
As for training, there are many ways to get certified in first aid and if you think you can handle a situation like this, then by all means do it.

Yep - Training is one thing. Experience is something completely different. You can train and train and train, but until the blood starts squishin' out all over the shop, you don't really know if your trainee is worth any of the training. hockeywidow is past that point now. I've seen a few good 'uns go to pieces when the shit has hit the fan.

I still haven't heard if the baby is ok. The manager from the grocery store took my name and number to let me know how the baby was but I haven't heard yet. I am sure the parents have more important things to worry about right now though. I just can't stop thinking about him! Hubby said he will pay for both the parents to have the first aid course if I ever hear from them again, that way they will know what to do if it ever happens again.

About a year ago it was 25 Euros at the Red Cross.

good job hockeywidow (i helped w/ a chocking/unconscious baby right b/f christmas in my neighborhood). i'd say check the red cross. i'd offer to give you a course but i'm not sure how that'd work (i'm certified instructor back home through the American Red Cross) being here and all (and me not having the books etc w/ me)... i'll look into it.

I just took a course for my driver's license here at the Ostbahnhof:
http://www.notfallmedizin.de/?lang=en&main=1_1&info=default

It's in English and was actually quite fun. Would be good for EVERYONE to brush up on their first aid skills since we were taught that the average ambulance response time was around 15 minutes, which means you're screwed if someone doesn't help you out! (plus it's the law here, you must help out if someone is medically in need)

Cost was 20 euros.